TV is Getting a Lesbian Batwoman. I'm In.

Jerry Thornton7/18/2018 6:45 PM

Source – Batwoman is already scheduled to visit the Arrowverse for the annual crossover event in December; she may now become a permanent member of it, expanding the universe and breaking some TV ground in the process.

The CW has put in development a Batwoman series for 2019 consideration. It hails from former The Vampire Diaries executive producer Caroline Dries and the architect of the CW Arrowverse, Greg Berlanti.

In Batwoman, written by Dries based on the DC characters, armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate Kane soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.

Batwoman already has been a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ representation in comics. After a long hiatus, she was reintroduced to the DC comic universe in 2006 when she was established as a Jewish lesbian, becoming the first-ever lesbian superhero title DC character. Now Batwoman would become the first gay lead character — male or female — of a live-action superhero series.

If you happen to be some hardcore traditionalist who objects to the idea of a Jewish lesbian Batwoman because it’s not Batman canon, I’m telling you now, Batnerd-to-Batnerd, to step off. There is no Batman “canon.” At least beyond Thomas and Martha Wayne got killed in an alley and their son Bruce went to a cave under their house with the help of Alfred Pennyworth and vowed to fight bad guys in a costume. That’s it. The rest has been done, redone, changed and rechanged and then stuff that was done before was completely erased. Between the comics and the TV show, multiple animated series, the just-pretty-good Tim Burton films to the abominations of Joel Schumacher to the almost perfect Chris Nolan trilogy and limited edition alternate universe graphic novels like Crisis on Infinite Earths series, the Batman template from the 1930s has taken many shapes and forms.

No lie, I read a book this summer called Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight, because my life is just that exciting and glamorous. And it went in depth into the whole mythology. The many different Robins. The first Robin, Dick Grayson who became Nightwing. The second Robin, Jason Todd, who was tortured to death by the Joker. To the third, Tim Drake. All of whom have different backstories according to the whims and imagination of the particular writer. In the very controversial The Killing Joke graphic novel, Joker actually paralyzes and sexually assaults Batgirl. My point is, all bets are off. So hell yeah, Batgirl can be Batwoman. Barbara Gordon can be Kate Kane. And Kate Kane can be a masked vigilante with a penchant for kicking bad guy ass who happens to prefer the company of other ladies. Count me in all the way.

From what I’ve read, when DC first went with the Kate Kane-as-lesbian storyline, some of the writers quit in disgust. But I like to think we’ve come a long way in 12 years. More enlightened as a society and a fandom. And I say that as somehow who grew up on Yvonne Craig, who was so blatantly hetero I think she’s more responsible than anyone for jumpstarting my puberty:

… as well as my fixations on Batlore, cosplay and fictional women who kick ass. As long as CW checks all those boxes, they’ll have made a fan out of me, Regardless of which gender is where new TV Batwoman finds love. Besides, no one in the history of Batman stories could ever have been more out than Batman and Robin in the Schumacher movies. So lighten up, everyone.